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Cheapness is not necessarily good
Dear Editor,
I refer to a front page photograph (Kaieteur News, March 11) which showed evidence of sloppy work done by a contractor on a road at Henrietta, Essequibo Coast.
This state of affairs must be an indictment against the contractor and the supervising agency and, ultimately, the awarding agency.
I have heard it said that “El Cheapo is not El Goodo” i.e. cheap is not necessarily good. Awards should not have as its primary criterion the lowest bid. I concede that a recent statement did convey the additional words “…. all things being equal…” That is fluff. In the majority of cases, and moreso at the Regional and local levels, the lowest bid gets the award. Something has to he sacrificed for cheapness, and it is invariably quality.
Bids must he realistic and the work actually done must not be for window dressing. After all, it is taxpayers’ money being spent and those who approve the spending, are accountable to the people. And people have a right to express their dissatisfaction when it is clear that the money is being wasted.
Why should one be apprehensive to express dissatisfaction at poor public works and unsavoury public matters? We are taxpayers and should have an interest in what is going on around us. If in the microcosm of the family, problems must he confronted to be solved, why is a similar approach an evil in the macrocosm?
In today’s Guyana, people are verbally abused by some contractors for objecting to poor quality work. At this moment there is a “patch-work” programme on some roads in Enmore. All the contractor did was throw some crusher run in the potholes. No tar, no compression. And when a resident questioned the quality of the work, a workman of the contractor brazenly said: “Coolie people ungrateful. De road get patch and they want more”.
This was on Tuesday 8th March. The crusher run is washed away and the pot holes are there still. Thanks, Mr Contractor! Thanks Government! I wonder who will pass payment to this contractor and what would be his cut!
What has given contractors such gumption, political connections, payment for favours?
Have we lost pride where, alter a job has been done, a contractor can say that his job is good for X number of years? Or is the proud statement: I shaft them good The order of the day?
Let us stop being shafted, Guyana! Demand value for money!
While we are on roads, I stated in the letter columns a few months back that residents of Enmore were being taken for granted by this Government. I stated that comprehensive road networks were being solidly built in neighbouring communities, and that was great. But rehabilitation of some roads and construction of others in Emnorc were approved over two years ago, but no money was released to get the work started.
I predicted then that some superficial road works will be done in Enmore just before general elections to con the residents and after elections “cat eat our dinner”. Emnorians, so will it be! It has started. In the mind of the Administration, we are die hard PPP. We will vote for the PPP even if they kick us. The focus now is to bribe non-PPP at our expense.
Sookdeo Persaud
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